Herb Garden Update - June 10, 2017

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Joanne Tillotson

10 Jun 2017

Herb Garden

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Herb Garden Update - June 10, 2017

There were lots of photos taken of the plants in Woldumar's herb garden last Thursday (6/8/17). Visitors were especially drawn to the beautiful purple and yellow blossoms of the spiderwort. I did a little research to discover why the plant is called spiderwort. When the stem is cut, a viscous secretion is released which, after it dries, is threadlike and silky like a spiders web. Not a pretty name for such a pretty plant. The Latin name for this genus of plants is Tradescantia after John Tradescant, the elder and his son who were famous English plant explorers. Both were gardeners to royalty including King Charles I. During the 17th century, they searched the New World for treasures to bring back to England. Spiderwort is just one of the many plants they discovered. These are some of the things I love about herb gardening at Woldumar – you always have such interesting conversations with visitors to the garden and there is so much interesting information to learn about the herbs and other plants.

Looking for: Does anyone have some purple cone flower, Echinacea purpurea, that they would like to share? It is one of the herbs that is missing from the medicinal section of the Moon Log Cabin Herb Garden. Also, does anyone have some old-fashioned roses that they could give a cutting from? We need to replace three that used to be along the fence outside the garden.

Content provided with permission by Sylvia Colles. If you'd like to volunteer to help in the Herb Garden, download the volunteer form or just join us on one of the general workdays. Questions for Sylvia (about the garden) may be relayed by contacting director@woldumar.org; emails can be readily forwarded to her.

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The Woldumar Nature Association values a diverse and inclusive community. We do not and shall not discriminate in any of our activities or operations on the basis of race, skin color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, attractional orientation, or military status.